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Nigeria frees 475 Boko Haram suspects for lack of evidence

The freed suspects will undergo rehabilitation before reuniting with their families. The trials are part of Nigeria's biggest legal probe into the militant Islamist insurgency that has plagued its northeastern region.

A Nigerian court has released 475 people allegedly affiliated with Boko Haram due to lack of evidence, the justice ministry said on Sunday.

The release order was issued on Friday.

The freed suspects will be returned to their home states for "proper rehabilitation" before being sent back to their families, ministry spokesman Salihu Othman Isah said.

"However, the Prosecution Counsel could not charge them with any offence due to lack of sufficient evidence against them. Therefore, the suspects were released," he said on Sunday.

In October, 45 people suspected of Boko Haram links were convicted and jailed. A further 468 suspects were let off.

The nearly decade-long insurgency fanned by Boko Haram militants in northeastern Nigeria has caused more than 20,000 deaths and has forced 2 million to flee their homes. Civilian militia leaders blamed the group for three suicide bombings which left 19 people dead at a fish market in Borno state on Friday.